Scrap plastics materials as collected from refuse sites, manufacturing operation wastes, household wastes, "fluff" from shredded automobiles and the like are commonly complex mixtures of many diverse waste materials-paper, thermoplastic products, cured thermosetting products, metals, fibrous products, etc. It is, difficult and commonly uneconomic to proceed through one or more sorting and separating steps before the recycling process. Plastics materials are particularly difficult in this regard, since successful recycling and reuse of plastics materials in useful products may require the sorting of the scrap products into different types and grades of such plastics.
Particularly difficult materials to handle in complex scrap mixtures are cured thermoset resins. Conventionally, these will not melt for remolding purposes, even after separation and isolation from scrap mixtures. Also, they are commonly associated with fibrous reinforcements such as glass fibres, which are equally difficult to separate and reuse.
Accordingly, there is a need for a process which will permit the recycling and reuse into useful products, of complex mixtures of waste materials which include in their composition substantial quantities of cured thermoset plastics materials.